A Different Kind of Hero
by Blackbird
Summary: Batgirl finds a use for the Batcave's computer system that NEVER would have crossed Batman's mind.


The Characters from "The Batman" are owned by DC Comics, Warner Bros., Bob Kane and God knows how many other people by now. This is a story done purely for fun and not to make profit whatsoever. Any original characters that may appear belong to the writer and can by used with permission.

"_Is anybody still watching after all that"?_

A Different Kind of Hero 

Batgirl poked her head out from the elevator once the doors opened. She looked from side-to-side to make sure the coast was clear and once she was sure it was she made her way out of the elevator with as all the stealth she had learned under Batman's tutelage. As she moved quietly over the metal and rock floors, she cradled the device tucked under her arms tighter. Thankfully her cape covered most of it as she was sure Batman wouldn't be too happy to see her bring it into the cave. Truth be told she knew she was abusing the privilege he had extended to her but she just couldn't help it. She just _had_ to see how this would work when hooked up to one of the cave's computers. And she wasn't even going to use the main one, so it shouldn't be _that_ much of a problem should it?

She pushed the thought aside for now and decided to focus on the task at hand. She practically tip-toed over to the computer as she still expected some kind of trap to be triggered the second she got too close. Thankfully that never happened and she smirked a bit as she pulled back her cape to place the white box like device on top of the computer's main console. It was a little something her dad picked up for her as graduation present. Actually it was the _only_ way he'd pick it up for her. With good reason too; she knew her dad didn't make much even as commissioner and it _was_ more than a little expensive, so it had to saved for a special occasion. Something like graduating high school for instance.

The device in question was the latest and, supposedly greatest, game console on the market: the Game Station 365. She had never really been much of a gamer herself but she was never one to pass up the chance to play around with the latest technology. Plus getting good enough to beat Dick at some of his favorite games was fun in and of itself. Lately though she spent most of her free time focusing on just one game. It was a game that most people wouldn't expect her to play and even she couldn't really explain why she liked it so much. It was just so fun to play.

She placed the guitar shaped controller next to the Game Station she as began to look for a good way to hook the game console to the computer console. It was a little trickier than she thought it would be a first, but eventually she figured out how to get it all to work. When she did she hooked the controller up then turn on the Game Station before stepping back as far as the cord would allow. She tapped her foot while she waited for the game to load. When it finally did she went through the usual process of picking a character and what song to play. Again it was not a song most people would expect her to play, and she honestly didn't know why she liked it herself, but she knew she was good at it. Again she had to wait as the screen loaded this time but as she did she held her right hand above her head with her middle and ring fingers pressed against her thumb while she held up her other fingers. The eyepieces to her mask squinted as she closed her eyes and waited for the beginning verses of the song to play over the speakers.

Carry on my wayward son,  
For there'll be peace when you are done  
Lay your weary head to rest  
Now don't you cry no more

Once the prelude was over, her eyes snapped open and her hand came down to work the lever that acted as the strings on the main body of guitar while her hands glided over the four colored buttons on the neck. For the uninformed, it might look like she was just mashing buttons and moving a lever up and down but it was actually a much more complicated ritual. It took a great deal of skill and concentration to get the timing down just right. Any mistake and the notes would come out wrong and the virtual crowd would boo her restlessly. In a way it actually reminded her of training.

The difference, of course, being that training was never this much fun. Once she really got into it, she allowed herself to cut loose and act like she was really on a stage performing in front of a live audience. She threw her arm up in an exaggerated way as she pretended to strum the strings hard for the more intense notes. Her head bounced up and down at the more calm parts of the song then when all out for the faster parts. She swiveled her hips back and fourth, her cape swaying with her every move. She even repeated the chorus every time it came up even as her fingers effortlessly manipulated the controller.

Carry on my wayward son,  
For there'll be peace when you are done  
Lay your weary head to rest  
Now don't you cry no more

Her voice echoed throughout the stone walls of the cave and at the moment she couldn't care less if anyone heard her, she was having way too much fun! Here she was free to enjoy herself in a way she couldn't at home. Mostly because her dad got tired of hearing "all that noise". Even if there were songs he liked he didn't appreciate them played at "an ear piercing volume".

Even in her dorm room she usually had to deal with her RA telling her to respect the peace of the other students on the floor. But here in one of the remote parts of the cave she could play the game as loud as she wanted and belt out the tune as best she could. She added a few jump kicks to repertoire of dance moves to go along with the rest of her grinding she was doing. When the song finally ended she held by the neck as she raised it and her other arm above her head in celebration of the praise from the virtual crowd.

"Thank you Gotham!" she called out cheerfully.

"Yeah! Whooo! Encore!" an all-too-familiar voice cheered behind her.

Batgirl's eyes went wide and she cringed a bit in surprised before she spun around to find Robin standing behind her. He held his sides as he doubled over in laughter. His face was about as red as his costume and every time he looked at her to try to say something he just ended up laughing even more. Batgirl's face began to turn red as well but it was out of anger instead of joy.

"And how long have you been standing there?!" she growled as she jabbed a finger in Robin's direction.

He still had a little trouble speaking through all his laughter but eventually he was finally able to calm down enough so he could at least stand up straight. He let out a few deep breaths to calm himself even more before he was finally able to speak again.

"About…about halfway into the second chorus," he revealed, lifting his mask to wipe a tear away from it.

"And you didn't say anything because…?"

"Because it looked like you were having too much fun. Plus it was just hilarious to watch!" he explained before laughing a little more again. "Gotta tell you Babs I never pictured you for a Guitar Hero fan."

"What have I told you about calling me 'Babs'?" she reminded him as she held up the plastic guitar in a threatening manner.

"That I shouldn't if I value my safety," Robin stated matter-of-factly.

"Good bird boy," Batgirl nodded as she lowered the guitar.

"Seriously though, when did you get this?" he asked as he walked over to the Game Station.

"I've had it for awhile now."

"So that's how you got so good at those games!"

"Duh."

"But why didn't you tell me you had 'Guitar Hero II'? We could have been jamming out together."

"Because I prefer to do all my jamming by myself."

"You're just afraid I'd beat you," he teased with a playful smirk.

"Oh you wish! I could totally mop the floor with you!" she spat back.

"Are you accepting my challenge?" he asked as he cocked an eyebrow and smirked even wider.

Batgirl seemed a little unsure for a second but a determined look quickly crossed her face under her mask and she placed her hands on her hips in defiance of Robin's question.

"Yeah I am," she insisted. "Got get your controller and we'll see who rocks hardest."

He let out a slight chuckle before he raced towards the elevator that would take him back up to the mansion. Batgirl shook her head in disbelief, and a bit of amusement, as she watched the elevator ascend then reset the game and scrolled through the list of songs for something she knew she could use to beat Robin. A devious smirk crossed her face as she highlighted a song she had unlocked not too long ago.

"Oh yeah, that's the one," she whispered as her smile grower bigger.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Batgirl's head turned when she heard a "ding" that signaled the elevator's return. She watched as the doors slid open and Robin came bounding out with his own guitar controller clutched in his hand. He ran over to the Game Station and hooked up his controller then walked back over to the stand next to Batgirl as she reset the game again and set it for two players.

"So what song are we playing?" he asked.

"Oh, it's a surprise," she said with a sly smile.

"How is that fair?"

"You could always back out now and spare yourself the humiliation."

"Not a chance."

"Alright then."

When the select screen came up she quickly scrolled through them until she got to the song she wanted to play.

"Hey wait! I didn't see what the song-" Robin started to protest.

He was stopped when the speakers suddenly seemed to scream at him, causing him to scream as well in surprise and fall back to the ground.

"TROGDOOOOR!!!"

A rough guitar rift started to play right after the scream. One that Batgirl matched with little difficulty while Robin was still sat on the cave's floor and checked to see if he could still hear.

"You just gonna sit there all day or are you gonna at least try to match me?" she teased as continued to play.

"Oh it is so on!" he declared as he finally pulled himself up and started to play as well.

Soon enough they were even in points, much to Batgirl's disbelief. Determined not to be out played by the Boy Wonder she started pressing the buttons on the neck hard and moving the lever that much faster. Robin kept pace with her and chuckled a bit as his points continued to match and at times surpassed hers. At some point during their guitar dual they around time to actually get into the song and began to jump up and down much as Batgirl had done earlier by herself. Unknowingly, their training kicked in and they actually started to move in unison. They swayed and jumped as one and even went as far to raise their guitars at the same time as they went into the solos on the song. As they battled each other the voice of the singer actually seemed to encourage them all.

"Whoa! Listen to those wicked dueling guitar solos. It's like squiggly versus wiggly over here. Go squiggly! Go squiggly! Squiggly wins!"

"Yay!" Robin cheered.

"What are you cheering about?" Batgirl muttered. "You're not squiggly."

"I am totally squiggly!"

"Yeah right!"

"Pfft! Whatever!"

They went back to focusing on the song and again fell back into moving together. They each banged their heads in time with the other as they reached the final stretch of the song. Again Batgirl started doing a few jump kicks as Robin fell to his knees and held the guitar controller high on his chest. When the song finally ended, they both stood still and caught their breaths as they waited for the finally tally to come in. They were shocked to see the same total over both their character's heads.

"50,000 points each?!" the screamed together. "We're even?!" They then looked at each other in annoyance. "Stop that!"

"You can both stop it," a gruff, and familiar, voice came from behind them.

They both jumped in surprised then spun around to find a not too pleased Batman glaring down at them.

"These computers are supposed to be used to help stop criminals from threatening the citizens of Gotham, not play video games," he admonished them.

"I know, I know and there's a very good explanation for this," Batgirl started.

"She did it!" Robin quickly shouted pointing to Batgirl.

"Gee, thanks!"

"I don't care who did it! If you two want to be down here you can get back to your training exercises. This time set at its most difficult level."

"Awww!" they whined.

"Move," Batman ordered, pointing to the elevator.

"Well what about…?" Batgirl started as she motioned to the Game Station but a quick glare from Batman stopped her. "I'll just…pick this up later."

They set their controllers down then made haste towards the elevator to get away from their mentor's intense and unnerving stare. He watched them disappeared into the elevator and when it was gone let out a slightly exhausted sigh. Being a crime fighter was hard enough without having to deal with two teenage sidekicks who wanted to use his highly advanced computer as their own entertainment center. Still, from what he saw he was proud to see that they could work together no matter the situation.

"Though this is definitely not what I had in mind," he muttered as he picked up one of the controller and studied it for a second before he looked at the screen that asked if he wanted to play again. "Hmmm…."

**The End.**

**Author's Notes: **Hello to all the people here on the Batman section of FF.N! This is my first fiction for this section but not my first fic in general, which I hope is obvious. I've been writing Kim Possible fics for the past…two years now and just recently had ideas for fics based on "The Batman". This is one of the two short humor fics I have in mind and hope to get the second one up here soon. I then have two other longer, more serious fics in mind after getting some more Kim Possible ones finished. If anyone here is also a KP fan, aside from the ones from that section I know are reading this as well, then I highly encourage you to check out my stuff there as well. Always happy to get more reviews.

As for the fic itself, it should come as no surprise that I got the inspiration for it from the recent "South Park" ep that also featured "Guitar Hero II". I don't know how but I just got an image of Batgirl and Robin rocking out to it in full costume in the Batcave and…God help me I found it hilarious. Being that it's more a visual joke it was a bit difficult to translate into a story and I hope I did that well enough.

The songs being played/sung do, of course, belong to their owners and are "Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas which was in the "South Park" ep in question and was my way to homage it. Plus if you listen to it and look at the lyrics, especially the chorus, it kinda fits Batman in this weird roundabout kinda way. Or maybe that's just me. The second song is called "Trogdor The Burniator" and comes from the Homestarr Runner web site and was sung/shouted by one of their most popular characters Strongbad. If you don't know who that is…where have you been all this time? Go look up the site right now! Go, go, go, go, go!

Alright so that's all from me for now. For all my old fans I hop you enjoyed this non-KP fic I did and for any new ones I certainly hope you enjoyed it as well. I'll be back here soon enough. "Same bat-time, same bat-channel"!

"Oh I don't feel good about that! Way too easy"!


End file.
